


Makes Three

by theflyinganonymouse



Category: VIXX
Genre: M/M, hakyeon and jaehwan are regulars, taekwoon owns a restaurant, the maknae line are Not Helpful, though wonshik tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 19:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14504175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflyinganonymouse/pseuds/theflyinganonymouse
Summary: Taekwoon makes good food and has a crush (or two). Wonshik tries to help, Hongbin is disgusted and Sanghyuk runs out of patience.





	Makes Three

**Author's Note:**

> 'Falling in love over food' 
> 
> Hope you like this!

Taekwoon takes a deep breath as he picks up the heavy tray and tries to ignore the way his hands are shaking, making everything rattle.

‘Keep your head up high.’ He tells himself. ‘Make eye contact and, for God’s sake, _smile_. You want him to like you.’

He trips over his feet before he takes even a couple of steps and sloshes hot broth over the lip of the large bowl of jjigae that takes up most of the space on the tray. He swears under his breath and grabs a cloth as he continues on his way, throwing a nervous glance around the mostly empty restaurant hoping that no one had seen.

He’s not that lucky.

He catches the eye of the customer whose order he’s just nearly thrown all over the floor and the other man smiles. It’s not mocking or unkind but Taekwoon’s cheeks still burn red with embarrassment and he finds himself ducking his head and pressing his chin to his chest.

“Thanks.” The guy says, watching with an amused expression on his face as Taekwoon wipes at the bowl to clear up the mess he’s made before setting it down on the table next to his other dishes. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day! I really don’t know how you do it but it always smells better than I remember.” The man eats a steaming spoonful of the jjigae and speaks around a too hot mouth, “tastes better, too!”

Taekwoon’s cheeks somehow get even redder and he stares at the floor.

‘You say that every week.’ He wants to say but his tongue suddenly feels like its glued to the roof of his mouth. Instead he stutters outs a quick ‘enjoy your meal’ and practically sprints back into the kitchen where Wonshik and Sanghyuk are waiting for him.

“Great job, boss.” Sanghyuk says, sounding only a little bit sarcastic. “You actually managed to speak to him today.”

Taekwoon groans, “were you watching the whole time?”

“Maybe.” Sanghyuk shrugs and wipes lazily at the already clean counter.

“You did good.” Wonshik pats Taekwoon on the shoulder. “But maybe try engaging him in conversation next time? Ask him how his day was, if he has any plans for the weekend, you know, that sort of thing.”

“You could try looking at him for a start.” Sanghyuk snorts.

Taekwoon fans his burning face, “I am never leaving the kitchen again.”

“Do you want me to talk to him for you?” Wonshik asks and Taekwoon knows that he’s trying to be kind but the thought is mortifying.

“No.” Taekwoon shakes his head. “Just- go do some work. I don’t pay you guys to stand around.”

“You don’t pay us to deal with the second-hand embarrassment of you trying to talk to your Friday night crush either but we still somehow struggle through.” Sanghyuk points out but he quickly evacuates the kitchen when Taekwoon threatens him with a wooden spoon.

“You’ll get there one day.” Wonshik tries to comfort him. “Maybe you’ll have better luck tomorrow with Saturday Night Guy.”

“Wonshik…”

Wonshik must hear the threat in his voice because he quickly makes himself scarce and Taekwoon, still too embarrassed to face the world, spends the next ten minutes hiding away in the pantry at the back of the kitchen, trying to console himself with the thought that tomorrow can’t go any worse.

It does.

“Don’t worry about it.” Saturday Night Guy says, not even attempting to hide his laughter. “It was an accident.”

Taekwoon mops at his table with sodden napkins before resorting to using the bottom of his apron to try and prevent the spillage from spreading. He apologises for what must be the hundredth time in the last minute, “I am so, so sorry.”

“You knocked over my drink.” Saturday Night Guy grabs more napkins from the next table over. “Not burned down my house and murdered my kids. You don’t need to keep on apologising.”

Taekwoon freezes, “you’ve got kids?”

The guy stills, too, cocking his head, his smile still bright, “no- have you?”

Taekwoon shakes his head, certain that his cheeks cannot get any redder, and concentrates on trying to clean up the mess he’s made. He’s just thankful that Saturday Night Guy’s food had somehow been left unscathed in the incident.  

They work together in silence for the next minute or so, Taekwoon trying not to jolt every time their hands accidently brush one another, until at last all that remains is an increasingly sticky table.

“See?” Saturday Night Guy says. “No harm done.”

“I’ll have someone bring you out another drink.” Taekwoon mumbles.

“You’re not going to do it?” He asks and then laughs when Taekwoon quickly shakes his head. “Gosh, you’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

Taekwoon hightails it out of there.

Wonshik and Hongbin find him curled into a ball in the pantry a couple of minutes later.

“Don’t.” He warns them.

“That was the cringiest thing I have ever seen.” Hongbin says, sounding disgusted. “Why are you like this?”

“Please close the door and leave me to die in peace.” Taekwoon tells them.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Wonshik tries.

“It was.” Hongbin immediately snorts.

Taekwoon groans, “I can never talk to him again.”

“I don’t think apologising a hundred times quite counts as holding a conversation.” Hongbin points out.

Taekwoon groans even louder.

“At least he found it funny.” Wonshik says. “That’s something at least- an ice breaker, maybe.”

Hongbin laughs.

Taekwoon lifts his head from the floor and glares, “this is all your fault, Wonshik. I should never have listened to you.”

“It’ll all work out.” Wonshik says but he doesn’t sound too confident.

“With which one?” Hongbin asks.

“Does it matter?” Wonshik shrugs. “He’s actually showing interest in someone. My awkward little man-baby is all grown up.”

“I won’t hesitate to fire both of you.”

It’s an empty threat and they both know it but, still, they leave him to wallow in his misery. It’s safer for them that way.

Taekwoon flops onto his back and lets out a deep sigh because, honestly, he’s feeling quite hard done by. He’s not liked anyone since high school, not really, and now suddenly there are two whole people he can’t stop thinking about. It’s exhausting and he could really do without it. The restaurant is still finding its feet and he continually feels like he’s going from one crisis to another- he doesn’t have time for one crush, never mind two, and all these failed attempts at flirting are really not helping his stress levels.

He sighs again.

It’s his own fault that it’s gotten to where it is now. If he had been a bit slier, hadn’t made up all those terrible excuses to go onto the restaurant floor, hadn’t been so obvious about sneaking looks, hadn’t blushed every time either Friday or Saturday Night Guy looked in his direction, then maybe Hongbin would never have noticed. And if Hongbin hadn’t have noticed then Sanghyuk would never have found out and he would never have told Wonshik (and the whole restaurant, really, but Taekwoon doesn’t like to think about that).

And he knows that Wonshik means well but him gently bullying Taekwoon into hand-delivering the food he’s so carefully prepared has really not helped the situation at all. Both men are so incredibly beautiful – Friday Night Guy’s features soft and delicate but his eyes bright with mischief while Saturday Night Guy is bolder in personality, his features a little less soft – that Taekwoon finds it hard to think around them. He messes up and makes a fool out of himself and they smile and humour him for the sake of the food he brings them.

It’s good food. Taekwoon isn’t modest about his cooking skills. He knows he’s a good cook and it’s the reason that his tiny restaurant has now worked its way up to being really busy with customers during the day and early evening- word of the good food on offer has spread. They get a lot of repeat customers, too, as well as new ones, and Taekwoon can guess a lot of the orders he’s going to get by the time of day it is. It’s nice. His crushes tend to come in an hour or so before closing, when the restaurant is at its quietest and Taekwoon and his staff have just about recovered from the chaos earlier in the day, and Friday Night Guy is predictable in that the only thing that ever changes about his order is what he’s having to drink. Saturday Night Guy on the other hand is anything but predictable. He’ll go through stages of having something different every week before having the same dish for a couple of weeks in a row before changing once again. Both are charming in their own way. There’s comfort in the predictability and excitement in the constant change and Taekwoon knows he could fall in love with both men as easily as they had fallen in love with his food.

He knows that it’ll never happen though. How could it?

Friday Night Guy works in an office and is always wearing a suit (a really nice suit, Wonshik likes to point out, probably tailored because of how well it fits his very nice ass). He’s sometimes mentions things like deadlines and meetings and reports and is so obviously very important that Taekwoon sometimes feels a little bit intimidated. He’s always kind, though, and is incredibly patient with him, even when Taekwoon struggles to get his words out. He likes to tease Taekwoon, too, usually about whatever food he has smudged across his face that day or how messy his hair is because he’s run his hands through it a hundred times. It’s really nice, as far as teasing goes, and Taekwoon has to pretend that he doesn’t enjoy it. It’s hard work.

Saturday Night Guy flirts with him. Well, he flirts with everyone but Taekwoon’s the only one whose face glows red and whose knees actually knock together when he winks at them so he’s often made a target. Hongbin thinks Saturday Night Guy has made a game of seeing how quickly he can make Taekwoon blush and he watches on in a weird mix of abstract horror and begrudging respect whenever they interact. Taekwoon pretends not to like it even as his heart races. What’s worse is that sometimes Saturday Night Guy will sing to him, some sappy love song or another, and Taekwoon has to do everything he can to not melt into a puddle right there in the middle of the restaurant. It’s mortifying and he always scurries back to the kitchen with Saturday Night Guy’s laughter ringing in his ears.

Taekwoon knows that none of it is real. He knows that neither man is interested in him- that the guy on Saturday nights likes to get a reaction from him and that Friday Night Guy is just being friendly. They’re both too bright and open to even be remotely interested in someone like Taekwoon. He’s standoffish and, as Sanghyuk has told him a million times over, has a mean face. The only really good thing about him is the fact he can cook really well. He doesn’t think it’s enough. He doesn’t know how he let Wonshik persuade him to start serving them in the first place. How could he have ever thought it was a good idea?

He spends the next couple of weeks hiding in the kitchen and doesn’t peek out onto the restaurant floor whenever either of his crushes are in even though he really wants to. Instead he takes extra care with their meals and throws as much of his longing and frustration into the task as he can, ignoring the hearts drawn all over the little scraps of paper with their orders on.

“Okay.” Wonshik starts one Saturday night after they’ve closed the restaurant. He has two bits of paper in his hands and a serious expression on his face and Taekwoon knows that whatever is to come will not be pleasant. “I’ve been on a little fact-finding mission the last couple of weeks.”

Sanghyuk and Hongbin immediately stop whatever it is that they’re doing – which isn’t a lot if Taekwoon’s being honest – and give Wonshik their full attention.

“This should be good.” Sanghyuk says a little bit too gleefully.

“Friday Night Guy is called Hakyeon. He’s a few months older than you, boss, and he has some high up position at a cosmetics company. His office is over by the river but his apartment is only a couple of blocks away from the restaurant so that’s why he’s here so late.”

“Wonshik…” Taekwoon doesn’t know what to say. He really desperately wants to know but at the same time doesn’t want to torture himself with this information. “I’m not sure-.”

“What about Saturday Night Guy?” Hongbin cuts him off.

“He’s a singer. He’s got a part in some musical that’s playing nearby. I didn’t believe him at first so I put his name into Youtube and it’s all legit. He’s actually really good.”

“What’s he doing coming _here_?” Sanghyuk asks. “If he’s famous.”

Taekwoon tenses, “what do you mean-.”

“His name is Jaehwan.” Wonshik tells him and he shoves the pieces of papers at Taekwoon. “He’s really nice. They’re both really nice. They both have my stamp of approval if, you know, you ever start interacting with them again and somehow get to the dating stage.”

“He’d have to make up his mind first.” Hongbin rolls his eyes.

“I’m not interested in either of them.” Taekwoon lies. He forces a smile and speaks between clenched teeth. “Both crushes are a distant memory and I am very happy concentrating on my work at the present time, thank you very much. Now can we please get back to work and pretend this never happened?”

No one fails to notice that he slips the papers Wonshik had given him into his apron pocket but at least they don’t call him out on it- for the moment, at least. He takes what he can get.

A month passes and Taekwoon spies on Hakyeon and Jaehwan – a little thrill runs through him whenever he so much as thinks their names – through the cracked door to the restaurant floor and he tries not to feel jealous about the easy smiles the two of them throw at his staff.

“As much as it pains me to say this,” Sanghyuk says when he finds Taekwoon sulking in the pantry after watching Hakyeon laugh at one of Hongbin’s bad jokes, “I think you should start serving them again.”

Taekwoon mumbles something indistinct under his breath.

“They’ve both asked after you so they’re at least a little bit interested in you. To be honest, I thought they’d be relieved to see the back of you.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do here.” Taekwoon says. “Are you trying to comfort me?”

Sanghyuk ignores him, “look, this whole pining thing has gone too far. It was funny at first but now it’s just painful to watch. You’re obviously not going to get over either of them until you do something about your feelings so just do it, okay? I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

The way that Sanghyuk looms over him and the tone of his voice makes Taekwoon think he doesn’t have much choice in the matter.

“Okay.” He nods.

“You start next week.” Sanghyuk tells him, fixing him with a steely gaze.

“Okay.” Taekwoon says again and he feels only a little bit frightened.

Sanghyuk claps him on the shoulder a little bit harder than necessary, “good talk, boss.”

He leaves then and Taekwoon wonders what on earth he’s just agreed to.

He spends the next week working himself up, thinking about all the different things he can say and searching the internet for tips. He even pesters Hongbin about teaching him some of his jokes because he knows Hakyeon likes them but Taekwoon messes them up whenever he practices them in front of the mirror and ends up feeling horribly embarrassed even if there’s no one else around to see.

Friday comes around too quickly and the unthinkable happens.

“Taekwoon!” Wonshik bursts into the kitchen as he is cutting up vegetables for Hakyeon’s meal. “Come quick!”

Taekwoon immediately drops the knife and follows him out onto the restaurant floor, expecting to find Hongbin bleeding everywhere or Sanghyuk collapsed on the floor. What he finds instead is much worse.

“What?” He asks, his breath caught in his throat. “How- how did this happen?”

“I don’t know.” Wonshik tells him. “I looked away for two minutes and there they were.”

Hakyeon is at his usual table but he isn’t alone. Jaehwan is there, too, and they’re _talking_.

“It’s Friday.” Taekwoon murmurs, hardly able to believe what he’s seeing. “I don’t understand.”

Hakyeon and Jaehwan start laughing about something then and Taekwoon feels suddenly faint.

“Okay.” Sanghyuk appears in front of him then and shoves the stack of dirty plates he’s carrying at Wonshik. He wraps an arm around Taekwoon’s waist and guides him back into the kitchen. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I don’t understand.” Taekwoon says again.

Sanghyuk sits him in the lone chair in the kitchen and gets him a glass of water while Wonshik watches on, the dirty plates still in his hands.

“Drink.” Sanghyuk tells him.

Taekwoon drinks.

“Maybe it’s not all that bad.” Wonshik half says, half asks.

The door to the kitchen opens then and Jaehwan and Hakyeon’s laughter floats into the room.

“Oh, man.” Hongbin says, his eyes fixed on what’s happening beyond the door. “Those guys are perfect for each other.”

“Hongbin!” Wonshik hisses.

Hongbin turns and sees Taekwoon looking ready to cry and swears, “sorry- I, uh, Jaehwan’s order is here.”

He all but throws the paper with Jaehwan’s order on onto the counter before disappearing back onto the restaurant floor mumbling something about a drinks order.

Sanghyuk is uncharacteristically kind and Taekwoon is feeling almost a bit too numb to appreciate it. The younger pats at his hair and rubs at his shoulders and yet it’s not enough to even take the edge off the pain in his chest.

“It’ll be okay.” Sanghyuk says.

Taekwoon finishes his glass of water and then lets out a long sigh and steels himself.

“What did Jaehwan order, Wonshik?”

Wonshik jumps and nearly drops the plates in his haste to get to the paper.

“The exact same as Hakyeon.”

“Okay.” Taekwoon says and he pushes himself to his feet. “That’s okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Are you okay?” Wonshik asks.

“Yes.” Taekwoon lies and he forces himself to smile. “I’m fine.”

He only cries a little bit that night after everyone else has gone home and then again when he crawls into bed. It helps him feel a bit better to get it out of his system but not much.

And, really, he should have expected something like this to happen. He’s always known Jaehwan to be unpredictable – it’s one of the things that Taekwoon really likes about him – so it shouldn’t have been the surprise that it was to see him at the restaurant on a Friday instead of a Saturday night.

The fact that Hakyeon and Jaehwan had been drawn to each other shouldn’t be a surprise either. Taekwoon knows they’re both such incredibly bright people, so warm and fun and _perfect_ , that it seems only natural that they should come together.

They come into the restaurant the following night and Hakyeon’s order changes just a little bit, obviously having been talked into trying something new, while Jaehwan orders a random combination of dishes. Taekwoon tries his hardest to make sure their food is the best he’s ever served even as he hears their chatter and laughter float into the kitchen whenever one of the others comes in to drop off an order or pick up a steaming tray to deliver to waiting customers.

Hakyeon and Jaehwan continue to come in on both Fridays and Saturdays over the next couple of weeks and Taekwoon pretends his heart isn’t breaking every time he hears them together, long having given up on spying on them through a cracked open door because he had found it too painful.

A month after Hakyeon and Jaehwan’s first meeting, Hongbin catches a cold. He shows up to work looking like death and Taekwoon takes one look at him before sending him home again. This means that they’re short staffed and, of course, it ends up being one of their busiest Saturday nights in a long time.

Hakyeon and Jaehwan enter the restaurant hand in hand just as the worst of the rush is dying off. Taekwoon bows to them in greeting without meeting either of their eyes as he rushes to deliver the food he’s just finished cooking to a patiently waiting couple. They hover by the door, waiting to be seated as both of their usual tables are occupied, and since Sanghyuk and Wonshik are busy with other customers Taekwoon is the one that has to do it.

“Where have you been?” Jaehwan asks when Taekwoon approaches them.

“Busy.” Taekwoon mumbles, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

“Hiding, you mean?” Jaehwan asks and there’s something about his tone that makes Taekwoon think that he’s not joking.

“We’ve missed you.” Hakyeon’s smile is warm. “We kept hoping that if we hung out here enough that we’d see you again. It’s taken longer than we’d thought.”

“Why?” Taekwoon asks, not understanding. “Why would you want to see me?”

“You’re cute.” Jaehwan says. “And we both like you.”

“You like my food.” Taekwoon corrects him.

Hakyeon shakes his head, “your food might have been what caught our attention but it’s you that we kept coming back for.”

There are little alarm bells ringing in Taekwoon’s head and its suddenly very hard to breathe.

“But you- I don’t understand. Aren’t you together?”

“Yes.” Hakyeon’s smile grows and Taekwoon sees something like hope in his eyes. “And we’d both like to be together with you.”

“What?”

“We’re asking you out on a date.” Jaehwan rolls his eyes. “Say yes so we can take you out somewhere nice.”

Taekwoon blinks and his mind latches onto the only thing he thinks makes sense in Jaehwan’s words, “are you saying my restaurant isn’t nice?”

“Okay, somewhere different then.” Jaehwan says. “Somewhere where it’s just the three of us and you don’t have to cook.”

“I like cooking.”

“Please say yes?” Hakyeon bats his eyelashes at him and Taekwoon feels his knees grow weak.

“Please?” Jaehwan pouts and Taekwoon has to hold onto the wall to keep himself upright. “We really like you.”

“How? How would this work?” Taekwoon asks.

“We’ll work it out.” Hakyeon promises him. “You need to say yes first.”

Taekwoon’s mind whirs and, when he finally speaks, his words are slow and uneven, “the restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.”

“Breakfast then?” Hakyeon asks.

“Tomorrow?” Jaehwan waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Okay.” Taekwoon’s heart feels ready to explode. “Okay, breakfast sounds good.”

The smiles he gets in return are blinding, almost like staring straight into the sun and being burned alive, but he doesn’t mind.

“But I have one condition.” He tells them. “I’m cooking.”


End file.
